With all the criminal liability facing Donald Trump, it’s easy to forget he’s staring down some rather serious civil liability as well. On Tuesday, a New York judge denied Trump a delay in the case Attorney General Letitia James has brought against the disgraced ex-president, his adult children and his company “alleging they duped banks and insurers by inflating the value of Trump’s real estate portfolio.” Instead, a trial date was set for October 2nd: “The issue is whether the statements were false,” [Judge Arthur] Engoron said. “This case is complex, but it is not complicated.”

There’s really not much hope for Trump in the case since the judge is already convinced that the statements were false.

The judge has already rejected several defenses, including what Engoron called the “everyone was doing it” defense.

“You don’t have to have an accounting degree,” Engoron said. “A triplex apartment is worth less money if it’s 11,000, not 30,000 square feet,” referring to an allegation in the state’s 214-page complaint that Trump overvalued his apartment in Trump Tower. Until he moved to Florida, Trump lived in an 11,000-square-foot triplex. From 2012 to 2016, Trump represented the size of the apartment to be 30,000 square feet and valued it as high as $327 million, according to the lawsuit.

That’s kind of an open-and-shut scenario. Trump lied and he can’t argue that it’s not a problem because everyone else was lying, too. He’s facing a $250 million penalty.

The lawsuit accused them of engaging in “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation in the preparation of Mr. Trump’s annual statements of financial condition” that overstated the values of nearly every major property in the Trump portfolio over at least a 10-year period.

“These acts of fraud and misrepresentation grossly inflated Mr. Trump’s personal net worth as reported in the Statements by billions of dollars and conveyed false and misleading impressions to financial counterparties about how the Statements were prepared,” the lawsuit said.

So, that’s on tap for October by which time Trump should be quite busy in other courtrooms. The first contest on the Republican presidential nomination calendar is Iowa, tentatively scheduled for January 8, 2024.

As the legal heat on Trump has ramped up, Republican voters have rallied to his side, which can be seen in how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ numbers have plummeted. This may be more a reflection of protectiveness of their former leader than genuine enthusiasm for another presidential campaign. Will Trump have actually been convicted in a courtroom before Iowa voters caucus? I think it’s quite likely, and voters by that time will be in a more practical mood. They’ll be less interested in loyalty to Trump and more interested in beating Biden.